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Special holy days during the Kumbh Mela sees millions ( estimated 15 million this day ) pilgrims come to the Ganges river to cleanse their sins by dipping into the river after all the holy men precede them. The river is very cold, the crowds vast, something I have never experience before, and the rejoice catching.
This 3 generations of family most likely spent the entire night walking to the Ganges to await their turn in dunking their bodies to rejuvenate their souls and cleanse their sins. An amazing site to witness.
PhilPDX wrote:
Love the expression in their faces. Out of interest: is this Varanasi?
-Phil
No, it's at Allahabad which is just over 100km from Varanasi. I was picked up at the Varanasi airport and it took about 10 hours to get to my camp which was roughly 10km away from the festival. I did spend 10 days in Varanasi after the festival...amazing humanity place.
PhilPDX wrote:
Love the expression in their faces. Out of interest: is this Varanasi?
-Phil
I had that same type of expression on my face as I jumped into the freezing Ganges at 5:00am. After 3 hours in the water, my teeth could not stop from chattering and I was glad to crawl out of the water and warm up.
roythegreat wrote:
Harry, Amazing picture, This picture perfectly captures the culture, sentiment, and emotion of an ancient world, I hail from.
You should be proud of your heritage and accompanying culture, it goes back so far in time. I would never get tired photographing the rituals and people along with the thousand(s) year old architectures.